Lori’s Story

I have always been an extremely picky eater and am now 35 years old. I have a sixteen year old daughter who eats pretty well, and then I have an 8 year old son who hardly eats anything. He hates eating, throws his food away when no one is looking, and would live off of french fries and ice cream if he had the choice.

Like me, he finds one thing that he likes to eat and will try eating it every day for a month until he gets tired of it and no longer likes it. His diet is limited to: french fries, mashed potatoes (if there is no pepper or spices in them because to him that resembles bugs), fish sticks, macaroni & cheese, cinnamon frosted kelloggs poptarts, corn (not on the cob), bacon, bread and cheese bread sticks from pizza hut, cinnamon toast, ice cream (vanilla only). He used to also eat: chicken nuggets from McDonalds, spaghetti, apples, and applesauce. He has decided that he no longer likes
those things. To make matters worse, he is allergic to eggs, and breaks out in severe hives if he eats anything that is too eggy (french toast is too egg, bread is okay usually). He also can not eat any peanut products. (oils, peanut butter, etc.)

Reading your site was like reading my own words. I grew up on a farm and had 140 pigs at the age of 14, and had two cows. I remember consistently getting spankings for not eating. I remember wadding my meat up into my napkin or putting it in my jeans pockets and flushing it down the toilet at a very early age. I would literally get sick to my stomach at the table because I would work myself up into a nervous wreck as I thought about putting things into my mouth. Meat was always my major problem because of the texture. Smells great to me – but to actually chew it makes me want to hurl. My parents always my issue with meat was because of my association between my animals and the food. Maybe it is subconsciously–not sure, but I don’t believe so. The thought of getting a hard piece of grizzle or bone in my mouth is just beyond my comprehension. Since the age of sixteen I have considered myself a vegetarian. If you ask me what vegetables I eat though, you would find that it is very limited when it comes to anything cooked. I do eat almost all vegetables raw though. I eat potatoes in any way that they can be made, as long as they are not mixed with some other vegetable or meat. Mashed, fried, scalloped, etc. Eat a casserole – NEVER. I don’t like things mixed together. I never pick up two pieces of foods together on a fork and put them into my mouth at once.

I too will eat bacon, but only if it is burnt and only if it does not have a “chew” to it – then it is too much like a regular piece of meat to me.

I have learned to adapt to my eating disorder, have foods that I eat that compensate and take vitamins, and take food dishes when I go to barbecues that I know I will eat. I can live with it. What concerns me though is that my son’s issues are deeper than mine. He will not eat any beans (ranch style, chili beans, refried beans, green beans), heck as you can see from the list – he hardly eats anything. And I am not exaggerating – if it is not on that list, he does not eat it.

Are you hearing a lot of feedback from others as a result of your website. I am in San Antonio, Texas and would like to find a doctor for my son who takes me SERIOUSLY when I try to discuss my son’s eating habits with him. My current doctor simply indicates, “if he gets hungry enough, he will eat”. You and I both know that is not true. After a couple of days without food, the hunger pains become very minimal. It is typically a headache that will instead prompt me to eat. Luckily, I can prepare food that I love and when I have something that I *like* eating, I can eat a BUNCH. I am wondering how much of my son’s problems are environmental vs. genetic disposition.

Any info you can provide would be appreciated. How refreshing it is to know that I am not the only “strange” person out here who has this issue.